Chapter 12 second quarter
Zhang Shuai appeared from the woods again, and slowly rode over to join the team of heavily armed "Shenwu Battalion" guards.
"Okay." He ordered softly.
The "guards" dismounted one after another and walked to a dug earth pit among the trees.The pits are six or seven feet in diameter and five feet deep.
They quickly undressed their armor, broke off their spears one by one, and threw all the weapons into the pit, and buried them in the soil piled beside the pit.
Zhang Shuai personally supervised the work of his subordinates.These armors and weapons were bought by Yu Runsheng through Grand Master He's confidant, Xiao Xian, with a lot of bribes, and they were indeed the genuine ones used by the royal guards.If it is found that any of them has flowed into the hands of civilians, the consequences will be extremely extensive.
Mao Gonglei still stayed where he was, looking at them coldly.
Zhang Shuai watched his subordinates completely fill up the earthen pit, and covered it with the pieces of turf that had been prepared before he turned his head to look at Mao Gonglei.
The two looked at each other, and Yao Yao nodded to each other.
Only then did Mao Gonglei turn his horse's head and gallop away.
"Let's go too." Zhang Shuai patted the dust on his white clothes. "In a short time, this entire western suburb will be a restricted area."
The scene of Meng Zhen, Rong Xiaoshan and others fleeing into Jiyuan Gate in a hurry was seen by Chen Du who was hiding in a house beside Wendingfang road. Chen Du paid special attention to everyone's body, indeed they had no weapons. This is the signal - that Zhang Shuai has succeeded. "Gray." Chen Du gave the order. The subordinates around him nodded in response and walked to the central table in the room.There are two bamboo birdcages on the table: one on the left holds two white pigeons, and the other holds two gray pigeons. The subordinate carefully opened the birdcage on the right, took out the two gray pigeons gently, walked to the yard behind the house, threw them up with both hands, and released them. The gray pigeon flew up rapidly with its wings, and one flew towards the south of the city, bringing this important information to Yu Runsheng's mansion; the other flew to the northwest outside the city, where the sickle head is now waiting for orders .
Zheng Shichang looked left and right, and after confirming that the officers were not nearby, he couldn't help taking off his helmet, took out the sweat towel in the leather pouch next to the saddle, and wiped his drenched hair back and forth. Serving as a guard of the imperial city, no matter how you say it, is a good job.Of course, the large portion of oil and water can't be touched, but the maids and eunuchs of the lower ranks ask him to do something convenient from time to time-usually they ask him to bring this or that item into the palace.Among them, Zheng Shi often had to charge a little "broker fee", which was accumulated every month, which was much better than the pitifully small military salary. Sixteen years ago, Zheng Shichang spent more than four hundred taels of silver to buy this shortfall—it took him two years to pay off the money.In the first month, he regretted a little, the imperial army was not as lucrative as he had imagined.But after hearing about the plight of those comrades guarding the frontier, I am glad that I am guarding the imperial city, there is no wind or waves, and the food I eat is not too bad... When I went to Beijing, I had the dream of being prosperous, but it has long since disappeared without a trace.Now Zheng Shichang is only thinking about it: After working for another ten or eight years, the money he saved when he retired from the army is enough to go back to his hometown and buy some land... "what?" There was a scolding voice from the team behind him, and Zheng Shichang hurriedly put on his helmet. ——This errand is good in everything, but it is the worst when it is a celebration... Zheng Shichang picked up his heavy halberd again and looked far away at the prairie in the middle of the forest in the Imperial Garden.Heavy armored knights like him lined up in square formations, filling the visible open spaces.It can be seen from here that there are at least three hundred riders. Of course, the real mobilization of Yuhun is more than this.Zheng Shichang's cavalry team only guarded the outermost southwest of the Forbidden Garden, not to mention the emperor's driving and camp, even the high-ranking personal guards were out of sight. Zheng Shichang muttered.When going out to hunt, you need to use thousands of guards and horses, as well as more than three times the logistics and attendants, officials of all sizes to accompany the hunt, and monks and priests for sacrifices... The food to feed these many people is enough for one meal. Xiaocheng's food stocks for the whole month have been exhausted. And this endless "garden" belongs to only one person... ——This is probably "power"... "I'm still free today." The fellow next to him, Bi, fanned the wind with his palm. "Hmm..." Zheng Shichang nodded. "I heard that His Majesty is shooting arrows in the east today. It seems that we don't need to move much today, just stop here and put on a show." Xiao Bi smiled. "We are used to this too...the decorations of the palace..." "Don't say it so loudly... the team leader is going to curse again..." "Ah, I really want to go home and take a shower...but I have to be on duty after returning to the palace, so I don't even have time to sleep." "I'll replace you, three taels of silver." "Don't even think about it, Eunuch Chai has a game tonight, and I'm planning to turn over the book during my break..." "Really? I want to go too. Last time I was killed badly..." Zheng Shichang yawned and took a deep breath.The smell of barbecue was in the air again.But this month he has eaten too much, and he feels a little nauseated... "Huh? What's the sound?" Zheng Shi often hears people say that. "There seems to be the sound of hooves..." "Did you hear me wrong?" "quiet!" The team behind shouted, and all the cavalry immediately shut up. The sound of the horse's hooves became clear immediately, and the hoofsteps were very rapid, and there were at least dozens of horses. Zheng Shichang turned his head and looked towards the direction of the sound of hoofbeats, which was the forest in the southwest. ——Could it be that some guards lost their way? It's getting closer and closer, but the guards don't feel nervous—no one will come here to cause trouble... The centaurs appeared in front of the forest. They didn't have any armor or military uniforms, and all of them wore ordinary civilian clothes, and the top of their heads and the lower half of their faces were tightly wrapped with coarse cloth scarves.At a glance, there are about twenty or thirty riders in total... The hands are shining brightly. Zheng Shichang's face tightened. —Where did a bunch of crazy people come from? "Rebel!" The team's eyes were stunned for a while, and then they shouted. "Where did the rebellion come from, did you eat the guts? How dare you break into the forbidden garden and bring a weapon? Throw it away quickly, and then come over and surrender yourself! Disturbing the holy driver is a felony that implicates the nine clans!" At the front of the mysterious cavalry team was a tall and strong man, who seemed to be deaf to the team's purpose, and even waved a sharp knife above his head, and the knights immediately turned around. "Flee!" a guard yelled. "Team head, what should we do?" "Need to say?" The team leader pulled out the saber from his waist in a "choke". "Catch up!" The guards immediately turned their mounts to the southwest.However, because they are mainly responsible for defending the Forbidden Palace on foot on weekdays, there is a lack of immediate training, and the formation is in chaos. "Forget about the formation! It's just a small group of bandits! Chase! Chase them all!" So the guards rode their horses regardless of formation, and galloped towards the bandits who were about to disappear into the woods.Some guards almost swung at each other because they didn't put away their halberds. The other two cavalry formations farther away also noticed the change, and immediately turned to join the ranks of the hunt. The soldiers rushed into the woods, and saw the opponent's figure again.The tall man ran last, obviously in the rear. The guards, who were originally in a relaxed mood, suddenly encountered a sudden change, and brought on heavy armor, military weapons and hunting gear. After riding fiercely for a while, they began to pant; It's not as good as those lightly armed bandits. The soldiers finally rushed out of the woods and entered the vast plains of the western suburbs.Seeing that the gang of bandits had drifted away, the team members were very anxious. Suddenly, a horse among the gangsters stepped on a pit by mistake, broke its legs and rolled down screaming.The rider was thrown to the ground so hard that he couldn't stand up. "Okay! Catch the alive! Want to live!" The team's voice became hoarse. The tall man at the end of the hall jumped over the wounded on the ground, and he was able to stop after dozens of steps.He turned the horse's head to look at the companion who was left behind. The wounded man endured the pain and sat up straight, looked at the imperial guards who were chasing him, and then at the leader stopped at the other end, then drew a dagger from his waist and pressed it against his neck. "Don't!" Although the tall man shouted through the cloth towel, the loud voice could be heard by the whole plain. The wounded man stopped holding the blade. The tall man steered his mount and ran towards his injured companion. The team leader saw it, and immediately shouted: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot the arrow!" The imperial guards who brought hunting bows immediately dismounted, took out arrows from their quiver, and bent their bows with them. The tall man was still running forward. The sound of twenty-five bowstrings being struck simultaneously. Facing the rain of arrows, the man didn't slow down at all, he just bent his upper body down. Like a miracle, the man and his mount passed through the rain of arrows safely, and the closest one just passed his left shoulder. The moment the man passed by the wounded, he bent down and stretched his right arm, and accurately grasped his companion's shoulder, neck, and shirt, as easily as lifting a paper doll, and put his companion's body across the saddle; Pulling the reins violently with one hand, the mount turned a wonderful sharp turn and fled southwest again. When the imperial army nocked their arrows again and fired arrows, the man was already farther away, and the arrows fell on the ground behind him. In order to launch these two rounds of bows and arrows, all the soldiers stopped to avoid shooting their compatriots by mistake; now they start again, but the opponent has already pulled the distance farther, and is about to disappear. "Chasing! Keep chasing! If you can't see it, follow the hoofprints!" The team leader still shouted, but he could already hear that he was not very sure. The horse with the broken leg was still struggling on the ground.The head of the team rode closer and waved to his subordinates.The two guards stabbed their spears and pierced the horse's head and neck. The team leader glanced at his subordinates who had chased him far away, then jumped off the saddle, and stepped forward to inspect the horse's corpse.There was nothing special about the horse, and the saddle was a worn-out, mundane thing, without a clue. The other two teams who joined the hunt also arrived. "How? Did you escape?" The team leader didn't answer, but there was a look of panic in his eyes.It is a great responsibility to let such a felony prisoner escape. "If the higher-ups blame us, we may also suffer..." "Wait a minute," the team leader said suddenly. "I thought of a way to..." He pointed to a forested hillside in the far western suburbs.Although the atmosphere was misty, it was still clearly visible, and the smoke of the fire was rising from the sky above.
The scene of Meng Zhen, Rong Xiaoshan and others fleeing into Jiyuan Gate in a hurry was seen by Chen Du who was hiding in a house beside Wendingfang road. Chen Du paid special attention to everyone's body, indeed they had no weapons. This is the signal - that Zhang Shuai has succeeded. "Gray." Chen Du gave the order. The subordinates around him nodded in response and walked to the central table in the room.There are two bamboo birdcages on the table: one on the left holds two white pigeons, and the other holds two gray pigeons. The subordinate carefully opened the birdcage on the right, took out the two gray pigeons gently, walked to the yard behind the house, threw them up with both hands, and released them. The gray pigeon flew up rapidly with its wings, and one flew towards the south of the city, bringing this important information to Yu Runsheng's mansion; the other flew to the northwest outside the city, where the sickle head is now waiting for orders .
Zheng Shichang looked left and right, and after confirming that the officers were not nearby, he couldn't help taking off his helmet, took out the sweat towel in the leather pouch next to the saddle, and wiped his drenched hair back and forth. Serving as a guard of the imperial city, no matter how you say it, is a good job.Of course, the large portion of oil and water can't be touched, but the maids and eunuchs of the lower ranks ask him to do something convenient from time to time-usually they ask him to bring this or that item into the palace.Among them, Zheng Shi often had to charge a little "broker fee", which was accumulated every month, which was much better than the pitifully small military salary. Sixteen years ago, Zheng Shichang spent more than four hundred taels of silver to buy this shortfall—it took him two years to pay off the money.In the first month, he regretted a little, the imperial army was not as lucrative as he had imagined.But after hearing about the plight of those comrades guarding the frontier, I am glad that I am guarding the imperial city, there is no wind or waves, and the food I eat is not too bad... When I went to Beijing, I had the dream of being prosperous, but it has long since disappeared without a trace.Now Zheng Shichang is only thinking about it: After working for another ten or eight years, the money he saved when he retired from the army is enough to go back to his hometown and buy some land... "what?" There was a scolding voice from the team behind him, and Zheng Shichang hurriedly put on his helmet. ——This errand is good in everything, but it is the worst when it is a celebration... Zheng Shichang picked up his heavy halberd again and looked far away at the prairie in the middle of the forest in the Imperial Garden.Heavy armored knights like him lined up in square formations, filling the visible open spaces.It can be seen from here that there are at least three hundred riders. Of course, the real mobilization of Yuhun is more than this.Zheng Shichang's cavalry team only guarded the outermost southwest of the Forbidden Garden, not to mention the emperor's driving and camp, even the high-ranking personal guards were out of sight. Zheng Shichang muttered.When going out to hunt, you need to use thousands of guards and horses, as well as more than three times the logistics and attendants, officials of all sizes to accompany the hunt, and monks and priests for sacrifices... The food to feed these many people is enough for one meal. Xiaocheng's food stocks for the whole month have been exhausted. And this endless "garden" belongs to only one person... ——This is probably "power"... "I'm still free today." The fellow next to him, Bi, fanned the wind with his palm. "Hmm..." Zheng Shichang nodded. "I heard that His Majesty is shooting arrows in the east today. It seems that we don't need to move much today, just stop here and put on a show." Xiao Bi smiled. "We are used to this too...the decorations of the palace..." "Don't say it so loudly... the team leader is going to curse again..." "Ah, I really want to go home and take a shower...but I have to be on duty after returning to the palace, so I don't even have time to sleep." "I'll replace you, three taels of silver." "Don't even think about it, Eunuch Chai has a game tonight, and I'm planning to turn over the book during my break..." "Really? I want to go too. Last time I was killed badly..." Zheng Shichang yawned and took a deep breath.The smell of barbecue was in the air again.But this month he has eaten too much, and he feels a little nauseated... "Huh? What's the sound?" Zheng Shi often hears people say that. "There seems to be the sound of hooves..." "Did you hear me wrong?" "quiet!" The team behind shouted, and all the cavalry immediately shut up. The sound of the horse's hooves became clear immediately, and the hoofsteps were very rapid, and there were at least dozens of horses. Zheng Shichang turned his head and looked towards the direction of the sound of hoofbeats, which was the forest in the southwest. ——Could it be that some guards lost their way? It's getting closer and closer, but the guards don't feel nervous—no one will come here to cause trouble... The centaurs appeared in front of the forest. They didn't have any armor or military uniforms, and all of them wore ordinary civilian clothes, and the top of their heads and the lower half of their faces were tightly wrapped with coarse cloth scarves.At a glance, there are about twenty or thirty riders in total... The hands are shining brightly. Zheng Shichang's face tightened. —Where did a bunch of crazy people come from? "Rebel!" The team's eyes were stunned for a while, and then they shouted. "Where did the rebellion come from, did you eat the guts? How dare you break into the forbidden garden and bring a weapon? Throw it away quickly, and then come over and surrender yourself! Disturbing the holy driver is a felony that implicates the nine clans!" At the front of the mysterious cavalry team was a tall and strong man, who seemed to be deaf to the team's purpose, and even waved a sharp knife above his head, and the knights immediately turned around. "Flee!" a guard yelled. "Team head, what should we do?" "Need to say?" The team leader pulled out the saber from his waist in a "choke". "Catch up!" The guards immediately turned their mounts to the southwest.However, because they are mainly responsible for defending the Forbidden Palace on foot on weekdays, there is a lack of immediate training, and the formation is in chaos. "Forget about the formation! It's just a small group of bandits! Chase! Chase them all!" So the guards rode their horses regardless of formation, and galloped towards the bandits who were about to disappear into the woods.Some guards almost swung at each other because they didn't put away their halberds. The other two cavalry formations farther away also noticed the change, and immediately turned to join the ranks of the hunt. The soldiers rushed into the woods, and saw the opponent's figure again.The tall man ran last, obviously in the rear. The guards, who were originally in a relaxed mood, suddenly encountered a sudden change, and brought on heavy armor, military weapons and hunting gear. After riding fiercely for a while, they began to pant; It's not as good as those lightly armed bandits. The soldiers finally rushed out of the woods and entered the vast plains of the western suburbs.Seeing that the gang of bandits had drifted away, the team members were very anxious. Suddenly, a horse among the gangsters stepped on a pit by mistake, broke its legs and rolled down screaming.The rider was thrown to the ground so hard that he couldn't stand up. "Okay! Catch the alive! Want to live!" The team's voice became hoarse. The tall man at the end of the hall jumped over the wounded on the ground, and he was able to stop after dozens of steps.He turned the horse's head to look at the companion who was left behind. The wounded man endured the pain and sat up straight, looked at the imperial guards who were chasing him, and then at the leader stopped at the other end, then drew a dagger from his waist and pressed it against his neck. "Don't!" Although the tall man shouted through the cloth towel, the loud voice could be heard by the whole plain. The wounded man stopped holding the blade. The tall man steered his mount and ran towards his injured companion. The team leader saw it, and immediately shouted: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot the arrow!" The imperial guards who brought hunting bows immediately dismounted, took out arrows from their quiver, and bent their bows with them. The tall man was still running forward. The sound of twenty-five bowstrings being struck simultaneously. Facing the rain of arrows, the man didn't slow down at all, he just bent his upper body down. Like a miracle, the man and his mount passed through the rain of arrows safely, and the closest one just passed his left shoulder. The moment the man passed by the wounded, he bent down and stretched his right arm, and accurately grasped his companion's shoulder, neck, and shirt, as easily as lifting a paper doll, and put his companion's body across the saddle; Pulling the reins violently with one hand, the mount turned a wonderful sharp turn and fled southwest again. When the imperial army nocked their arrows again and fired arrows, the man was already farther away, and the arrows fell on the ground behind him. In order to launch these two rounds of bows and arrows, all the soldiers stopped to avoid shooting their compatriots by mistake; now they start again, but the opponent has already pulled the distance farther, and is about to disappear. "Chasing! Keep chasing! If you can't see it, follow the hoofprints!" The team leader still shouted, but he could already hear that he was not very sure. The horse with the broken leg was still struggling on the ground.The head of the team rode closer and waved to his subordinates.The two guards stabbed their spears and pierced the horse's head and neck. The team leader glanced at his subordinates who had chased him far away, then jumped off the saddle, and stepped forward to inspect the horse's corpse.There was nothing special about the horse, and the saddle was a worn-out, mundane thing, without a clue. The other two teams who joined the hunt also arrived. "How? Did you escape?" The team leader didn't answer, but there was a look of panic in his eyes.It is a great responsibility to let such a felony prisoner escape. "If the higher-ups blame us, we may also suffer..." "Wait a minute," the team leader said suddenly. "I thought of a way to..." He pointed to a forested hillside in the far western suburbs.Although the atmosphere was misty, it was still clearly visible, and the smoke of the fire was rising from the sky above.